Kidoor village in Kumbla of Kasargod district in Kerala located about 48 km from Mangaluru has taken its second edition of Bird Festival held on November 10-11 to the next level. Since last year, attempts are on to conserve the orange breasted green pigeon (Treron bicinctus) - an iconic bird of the village.

Raju Kidoor, a teacher and member of the Kidoor Birder’s Group, said, “While students have always been a part of the bird festival, this year, we decided to include birders and conservationists from Karnataka and Kerala. The village boasts of 161 species of birds highest in Kasargod. The festival held this year was also about frogs, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.”

Sessions on these topics were organised by members of the Kidoor Birder’s group including, Murali Madhava Peltaje, Maxim Kollangana, Prashanth Krishna MC, Mohammed Haneef and Raju Kidoor.

“Kasargod District Collector Dr Sajith Babu who is keen on protecting biodiversity of the region was a part of the festival.

Conservationists from Bengaluru including Deepa Mohan and retired DRDO scientist Harish Chandra informed the District Collector about how a small village can be converted into an important destination for conservation,” he said.

The District Collector has assured the participants that by the next Kidoor Bird Festival, the administration will work towards setting up a bird sanctuary in the village. “Within two days of the bird fest, the DC returned to the village with a team of officers to study the encroachments that have taken place and assured steps to declare the village as a biodiversity zone,” said Raju.

The festival has received support from the Panchayat president Pundarikaksha, who also promised conservation work through the MGNREGA scheme of the government. Assistant Conservator of Forest P Biju has also extended support towards the efforts.